Best books for coaching strategies?

[SteveV]

As I am a Brit I have never received any actual Gridiron coaching in my life so since I got interested in football about 30 years ago I have had to pick up bits and pieces of coaching/playcalling strategy knowledge as I went along. I have Chris B Brown's two Smart Football books plus an old high school coaching manual by a guy called Leo Hand but they fall bettween two stools - Brown's books are great historical primers for various offensive and defensive schemes but with little meat as to how to implement the schemes whereas Coach Hand's book is mostly page after page of diagrammed plays but with no general guidance on when each play should be run.

What I am after is something that explains the strengths/weaknesses of the plays that the Madden offensive playbooks incorporates against different defenses/fronts in the game, and vice versa for the defensive playbooks. A lot of the time I feel like I am just winging it but i would actually like to feel like I am strategising like a real coach when I play!

[trey31]

What I am after is something that explains the strengths/weaknesses of the plays that the Madden offensive playbooks incorporates against different defenses/fronts in the game, and vice versa for the defensive playbooks.

I think the simplest approach, if you want info in traditional book form, is something like "101 Air Raid Plays" by Rick Hargitt. Air Raid is a spread (formation) offense that uses West Coast principles along with Air Coryell concepts. Mesh is... an awesome concept to pair with the other Pro-style passing concepts. Usually Mesh plays are designed to beat both man and zone coverages. China Mesh, Mesh Hi/Lo, Mesh Outs, Mesh Flood (Mesh Cross/Mesh Out/Flag/Flat).

There are tons of blogs dedicated to this sort of thing. One that comes to mind is fishduck.com (good if you don't mind incessant Oregon fans; the football knowledge is sound, the opinions......)

If you want general football books, there are numerous. Some of the better ones:

"Building a Champion: On Football and the Making of the 49ERS" by Bill Walsh

"Dick Vermeil: Whistle in His Mouth, Heart on His Sleeve" by Gordon Forbes (Author), Ron Jaworski (Foreword)

"Football Scouting Methods" by Steve Belichick (Bill's dad; the bible of NFL scouting)

"The Big Book of Belichick: His Thoughts on Strategy, Fundamentals & History" by Alex Kirby

"Coaching the No-Huddle Offense" by G. Mark McElroy


If you want to better understand Madden's Passing Play Concepts... good luck. They're mostly random junk recycled from SNES Madden. Very few actual NFL/NCAA passing concepts. Not trying to bash Madden, it's just that EA doesn't know how to program receivers to find open windows in-between zones. Makes it hard to be realistic when the AI can't run routes that even Pop Warner athletes understand.

[SteveV]

Thanks for that reply, I get that Madden doesn't simulate accurately what actually happens on a football field but I was more interested in the theoretical concepts behind things like QB SPY coverages (only use against scrambling QB's?), Zone Blitzes (use them when you aren't sure if the offense will run or pass?), when to use Cover 2 or Cover 3 etc, on Defense. On Offense I use the strengths and weaknesses of the other team's defensive roster to make a general gameplan of who to target, but I would love to know (for example) why there are always three unblocked defenders on every outside run so its impossible to make any yards unless your RB breaks a couple of tackles. I assume the three defenders include a safety and a LB but it would be nice if the receiver on that side of the field could EVER block a CB to stop them getting involved as well...

[trey31]

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[trey31]

On Offense I use the strengths and weaknesses of the other team's defensive roster to make a general gameplan of who to target

You're ahead of the curve then!

but I would love to know (for example) why there are always three unblocked defenders on every outside run so its impossible to make any yards unless your RB breaks a couple of tackles. I assume the three defenders include a safety and a LB but it would be nice if the receiver on that side of the field could EVER block a CB to stop them getting involved as well...

PLYT tags... Changing run plays in the playbook editor to "21" Special teams plays might make a little bit of a difference.

[trey31]

theoretical concepts behind things like QB SPY coverages (only use against scrambling QB's?), Zone Blitzes (use them when you aren't sure if the offense will run or pass?), when to use Cover 2 or Cover 3 etc, on Defense.

QB Spy is solely for running QB's. In real life, it is extremely rare to see more than one defender spying a QB. Those dual-spy black arrow things in Madden, yea, not really a thing, especially when combined with the orange spy on the Mike. Even Terrelle Pryor (who ran a 4.38 40yd dash) was typically only spied with one player, usually the Mike, on any given play, and even then it was usually on "& Long" plays with the D committing an extra rusher + one spy and the remaining playing Cover1/2 Man under. Man is more susceptible to rushing QB's than Cover Zone or Fire Zone.

Fire Zone has plays designated as "Run Blitzes", but they usually never include dropping the down lineman into coverage. The ones that do drop DL into coverage are "Pass Blitzes" for the most part. Also, in real life, the Fire Zone rarely commits more than 4 rushers, its just that the area/positions those 4 come from are unorthodox.

Cover 3/4 is usually overkill on Madden. Actually the D is more susceptible to giving up deep passes in Zone 4 than it is in Cover 2 or 3 Zone because the AI can get beat with corner or flag routes from a TE or Slot if they go Over-Under. I play a lot of 1 or 3 in Madden.